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Contact Lenses
South Island Optometry offers the convenience of email to remind you that it's time to re-order your contact lenses. Simply click here and e-mail our contact specialist to let them know your e-mail information!
Contact lenses are medical devices. As such, they can potentially be harmful to the eyes and vision. A poor fitting of contact lenses by a less qualified technician could potentially result in harm to your eyes. Optometrists, on the other hand, have specialized training necessary to provide proper lens fitting and on-going eye health and follow-up care that will give you the best chance for long-term success with contact lenses.
Your optometrist knows your eyes best. Your eye doctor knows everything about your eyes that is necessary to provide you with the best possible contact lenses. Only your optometrist knows all the following necessary information: your refractive error, external eye health, internal eye health, eye co-ordination, depth perception, colour vision, oxygen requirements to maintain healthy corneas, corneal curvature and visual requirements at work, recreation and at home. Why trust your eyes to a technician who knows only a few of these factors?
Your optometrist is required to keep up to date with new technology. With over 100 different kinds of soft and gas-permeable contact lens designs, no one kind of lens is best for everyone. Optometrists are required each year to complete continuing education in order to maintain their license to practice. This ensures that your optometrist can pass on to you the benefit of the latest contact lens technology and developments.
Once you are fitted successfully with contact lenses, your optometrist will advise you to return for regular eye health assessments. Even after a successful fitting has been obtained, things can change. Your eye health, eye shape and prescription can change often without symptoms. Only your eye doctor has the training and the knowledge to monitor your on-going eye health.
Your optometrist is trained to advise you on the appropriate, safe and effective use of contact lenses. There is much confusion from advertising and direct marketing that make contact lenses appear to be just another commodity. Contact lenses need to be treated with the respect medical devices require. By purchasing contact lenses at a drug store, mail order or bulk food store, you leave an important link, optometrist, out of the appropriate, safe, and effective use of contact lenses.
South Island Optometry Centres has very competitive pricing. We provide additional in-office and manufacturer discounts on 1-year supply of contact lenses. The lowest advertised price isn't necessarily the best deal. Check out our value pricing first!
When you purchase contact lenses from South Island Optometry Centres, you will receive more than just contact lenses, you receive:
- Great service and instruction from staff
- Contact lenses, solutions and related materials
- The doctor's time and professional skill
- The latest, up-to-date equipment and facilities
As a contact lens wearer, you need to be aware of how airplane travel can affect your eyes. Wearing your contacts during a long flight can result in symptoms ranging from mild discomfort to severe pain. You may even continue being miserable for a day or two afterwards. This problem can occur with all types of contact lenses: hard, soft, gas permeable, or extended-wear.
The cornea, the transparent "watchglass" that lies over the iris (colored part of the eye), is nourished by oxygen from the air. When contact lenses are worn, oxygen reaches the cornea either through the lenses or dissolved in tears that flow under the lenses. However, the dry air in modern jets causes rapid evaporation of tears from the eye's surface and evaporation of the water from the contact lens. Without sufficient moisture, the corneas can be deprived of oxygen and cause your eyes to become irritated.
The first symptoms may be redness and a scratchy feeling in the eyes. Vision can get blurred and, in particularly sensitive individuals, painful microscopic blisters can form on the corneal surface. Reading on the plane adds to the problem because you tend to blink less frequently when you read, leading to more evaporation of moisture from the eyes and contacts.
It is a good idea to put moisture-containing eye drops in your eyes during a flight as often as you feel they are necessary. The drops may be artificial tears or the lens lubricant or saline solution that you use. (Airline personnel who wear contacts and have discomfort should always use these drops routinely.) If that does not help, or if you have previously had severe problems after long flights, it may be wiser to remove the contacts and wear your eye glasses when flying.
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